As China and the United States compete for influence across Southeast Asia, governments across the region are seeking to deepen economic ties while preserving strategic autonomy. China’s expanding economic presence brings investment and industrial opportunities, alongside concerns about domestic capacity surplus, while US trade policy is creating new uncertainty and constraints for regional economies. At the same time, Southeast Asia faces growing pressures to sustain growth, expand energy access, and manage environmental challenges. How much room does the region have to pursue its own interests? Can ASEAN and individual governments turn their economic weight into greater leverage? And what should Southeast Asia prioritize in the years ahead?
Join Gita Wirjawan, former Indonesian Minister of Trade and Honorary Senior Fellow at the Center for China Analysis, and Amb. Craig Allen, former U.S. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at CCA, for a conversation moderated by Kevin Zongzhe Li, Fellow at CCA.
Speakers
Gita Wirjawan is a Non-Resident Honorary Senior Fellow on China-Southeast Asia Relations at the Center for China Analysis. He is the founder and chairman of Ancora Group, an Indonesian business group with interests in real estate, natural resources, arts, and technology. He is also the founding partner of Ikhlas Capital, a Southeast Asia private equity fund. Previously, he served as Indonesia’s Minister of Trade (2011–2014) and Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (2009–2011), and held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
A strong believer in soft power, Gita expresses his passion through music and film as storytelling mediums. As chairman of Visinema Group, he helped bring Jumbo—the highest-grossing animated film in Southeast Asia with over 10 million views—to the big screen.
He currently serves as a Visiting Scholar at the Precourt Institute for Energy, the Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, focusing on Southeast Asia’s nation-building directionality. Believing in the region’s underlying power, Gita hosts Endgame, an educational podcast featuring notable thinkers, leaders, and changemakers. He is also the author of What It Takes: Southeast Asia, a pursuit to bring Southeast Asia to the forefront of global consciousness.
His degrees are from the Harvard Kennedy School (MPA), Baylor University (MBA), and the University of Texas at Austin (BSc).
Ambassador Craig Allen is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. He concurrently serves as a Senior Counselor at The Cohen Group in Washington, D.C.
Previously, Ambassador Craig Allen was president of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) from 2018 to 2024, a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing over 200 American companies doing business in China. Prior to his leadership at USCBC, Ambassador Allen was the U.S. ambassador to Brunei Darussalam from December 2014 to July 2018.
Before his ambassadorial role, he had a long and distinguished career in U.S. public service, primarily within the Department of Commerce. He served as deputy assistant secretary for Asia at the International Trade Administration and later as deputy assistant secretary for China. His prior overseas assignments include serving as the senior commercial officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where he held the minister counselor rank of the Senior Foreign Service. He also served as senior commercial officer in South Africa and as deputy senior commercial officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
Earlier in his career, Ambassador Allen worked at the National Center for APEC in Seattle, contributing to APEC summits in Brunei, China, and Mexico. He held commercial attaché positions at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, and the American Institute in Taiwan, where he was director of the American Trade Center in Taipei. He began his government career in 1985 as a Presidential Management Intern at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, later serving as an international economist in its China office.
Ambassador Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Asian studies from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.
Kevin Zongzhe Li (moderator) is a Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, where he leads the Center’s work on China–Southeast Asia relations. His research also examines the geopolitics of the energy transition, the role of middle powers amid great-power competition, and clean energy, critical mineral supply chains, and industrial policy. He holds a BS in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Kevin contributes regularly to outlets including The Diplomat, Fulcrum, The Jakarta Post, East Asia Forum, China-U.S. Focus, the South China Morning Post, and the Asian Peace Programme. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English and conversant in Bahasa Indonesia.
Southeast Asia Between China, the United States, and a Changing Global Order
Host
Wed, Oct 14, 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM (EDT)
To be shared on approval (New York)
20 attendees
As China and the United States compete for influence across Southeast Asia, governments across the region are seeking to deepen economic ties while preserving strategic autonomy. China’s expanding economic presence brings investment and industrial opportunities, alongside concerns about domestic capacity surplus, while US trade policy is creating new uncertainty and constraints for regional economies. At the same time, Southeast Asia faces growing pressures to sustain growth, expand energy access, and manage environmental challenges. How much room does the region have to pursue its own interests? Can ASEAN and individual governments turn their economic weight into greater leverage? And what should Southeast Asia prioritize in the years ahead?
Join Gita Wirjawan, former Indonesian Minister of Trade and Honorary Senior Fellow at the Center for China Analysis, and Amb. Craig Allen, former U.S. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at CCA, for a conversation moderated by Kevin Zongzhe Li, Fellow at CCA.
Speakers
Gita Wirjawan is a Non-Resident Honorary Senior Fellow on China-Southeast Asia Relations at the Center for China Analysis. He is the founder and chairman of Ancora Group, an Indonesian business group with interests in real estate, natural resources, arts, and technology. He is also the founding partner of Ikhlas Capital, a Southeast Asia private equity fund. Previously, he served as Indonesia’s Minister of Trade (2011–2014) and Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (2009–2011), and held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
A strong believer in soft power, Gita expresses his passion through music and film as storytelling mediums. As chairman of Visinema Group, he helped bring Jumbo—the highest-grossing animated film in Southeast Asia with over 10 million views—to the big screen.
He currently serves as a Visiting Scholar at the Precourt Institute for Energy, the Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, focusing on Southeast Asia’s nation-building directionality. Believing in the region’s underlying power, Gita hosts Endgame, an educational podcast featuring notable thinkers, leaders, and changemakers. He is also the author of What It Takes: Southeast Asia, a pursuit to bring Southeast Asia to the forefront of global consciousness.
His degrees are from the Harvard Kennedy School (MPA), Baylor University (MBA), and the University of Texas at Austin (BSc).
Ambassador Craig Allen is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. He concurrently serves as a Senior Counselor at The Cohen Group in Washington, D.C.
Previously, Ambassador Craig Allen was president of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) from 2018 to 2024, a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing over 200 American companies doing business in China. Prior to his leadership at USCBC, Ambassador Allen was the U.S. ambassador to Brunei Darussalam from December 2014 to July 2018.
Before his ambassadorial role, he had a long and distinguished career in U.S. public service, primarily within the Department of Commerce. He served as deputy assistant secretary for Asia at the International Trade Administration and later as deputy assistant secretary for China. His prior overseas assignments include serving as the senior commercial officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where he held the minister counselor rank of the Senior Foreign Service. He also served as senior commercial officer in South Africa and as deputy senior commercial officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
Earlier in his career, Ambassador Allen worked at the National Center for APEC in Seattle, contributing to APEC summits in Brunei, China, and Mexico. He held commercial attaché positions at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, and the American Institute in Taiwan, where he was director of the American Trade Center in Taipei. He began his government career in 1985 as a Presidential Management Intern at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, later serving as an international economist in its China office.
Ambassador Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Asian studies from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.
Kevin Zongzhe Li (moderator) is a Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, where he leads the Center’s work on China–Southeast Asia relations. His research also examines the geopolitics of the energy transition, the role of middle powers amid great-power competition, and clean energy, critical mineral supply chains, and industrial policy. He holds a BS in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Kevin contributes regularly to outlets including The Diplomat, Fulcrum, The Jakarta Post, East Asia Forum, China-U.S. Focus, the South China Morning Post, and the Asian Peace Programme. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English and conversant in Bahasa Indonesia.